Cross-national surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Establishing data (epidemiologic clinical and genomic) sharing collaborations for COVID-19 variant data in the region.

Establishing a centre for regional monitoring of variants and other viruses following existing models such as INSACOG.

Shared and resilient health system for pandemic and beyond.

Regional collaboration, at a minimum, on lessons learnt and sharing of best and worst practices.

Initiating ways human resources for health can be shared across borders, such as telehealth approaches.

Establishing a system for regional recognition of medical licenses and a system for human resource sharing in a health emergency.

Developing a shared resiliency and preparedness plan for health security and climate crisis challenges.

Overcoming the shortage of COVID-19 technologies.

Initiating a needs’ assessment process requesting national-level data to build a regional needs assessment.

Collaborate as a bloc to facilitate requesting and distributing vaccines for COVID-19 from excess stockpiles and manufacturers.

Collaborating as a bloc to increase manufacturing capacities and to re-orient global mechanisms such as COVAX to improve equity for vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

Cooperation between scientific, professional organisations, associations and academia.

Formal collaboration to co-develop and share guidelines, public awareness-building efforts and other resources.

Collaboration with diaspora and other low-income and middle-income countries to support initiatives in different countries of the region.

Establish formal mechanisms for the professional and scientific community to directly collaborate for emergency responses in health and other crises and to improve preparedness in the region.

Advocacy for removal of governance and financial barriers which prevent scientific collaboration within region.